


Acorn Metaphor

by Rogue_Swordsmith



Series: Fairy Tales [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Death, Depression is a bitch, Life - Freeform, but it too will pass, fairy tale, tw suicidal ideation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 05:09:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29201874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogue_Swordsmith/pseuds/Rogue_Swordsmith
Summary: Acorns. Struggles, pain, all only lasts for a season.
Relationships: None
Series: Fairy Tales [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2144007





	Acorn Metaphor

There was a massive oak tree. And from that tree, an acorn fell. They tumbled into the brown, crinkly leaves, and rested on the soft earth. _Where am I_? They wondered. _What am I doing on the ground?_

They looked and they saw the trunk rising up, the branches stretching out, and the fiery leaves shadowing them. _Why am I so far away from my origin_? _I fell down. How am I supposed to get back up again?_

Rain comes. Puddles rise around them and rivulets carry them away. They roll into a gully. When the sun comes out again, they look back at their tree and realize with a pang of pain, _I'm never going back_. _I fell, and now I'm trapped here_.

And the acorn knows with the certainty born of limited experience that they are doomed. Whatever their purpose was, they failed.

A squirrel comes upon them. They look into her eyes and see the hunger there, the vitality. They're just an acorn. They can't fight against a force of nature. The squirrel picks them up in her teeth and scampers away from their tree. _I'm going to die, now. I'm going to die, but it doesn't matter because my life was meaningless._

The squirrel digs a hole and drops the acorn inside, burying them beside another acorn. Cramped inside the hole, they are filled with existential terror. _What will happen when I'm eaten_? _Will it hurt?_

The other acorn presses against their smooth shell. "She won't eat you."

"How do you know?"

"She forgets where she's buried us."

"Then- then we're trapped here!"

"But we're alive."

"Are we??"

The second acorn remains silent in response.

Cold comes. Frigid shards of ice crack the other acorn's shell, and he never speaks again. The first acorn shivers and sobs, alone and stuck. _Why can't I die?_ _I want this to end_!

The ice shards are so close. Perhaps if the acorn just leaned into those, they would freeze and perish.

 _Don't do it._ A soft voice stops them.

"Why not?? I'm a worthless seed!! I'm trapped here!! I'll never be anything greater than this!"

" _You matter. Even as a seed, you matter. Even if you never reach your potential, you exist, you are a part of me, and you are worth more than you think_."

"Who are you?"

 _I'm you. I am the squirrel. I was the other acorn trapped here with you. I am the tree you came from and every other tree besides. I, my child, am Life_.

The acorn has slight trouble comprehending the immensity of Life itself. But before they can have a chance to question more, a shaft of light peeks in on them.

They're growing. Through the ground and into the sky, they sprout up and up and up. It takes years. The harsh winters and dry summers nearly force them to give up. But, as the years go by, their roots spread out and their branches stretch around themself. They aren't an acorn. It just took a bit of patience, a bit of love, and a bit of perseverance, and they became a tree.


End file.
